Ironman USA Lake Placid - TriathlonFull Ironman

The start was not as hectic as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, it was crowded and it took courage to keep your head down with so many people all around, but the hype made me think that it would be a fight. Lots of bumping. I took a hit to the head, body and legs a few times, but it wasn't like anyone was throwing punches. I usually have to stop every few hundred yards just to reset and then continue, but I felt a strange calm within the crowd. I also didn't want to stop and get run over. I did stop once on the way out and twice on the way back on the first loop and more frequently on the second loop though. The turn-around was crowded, but took it nice and wide to avoid the unnecessary contact.
My goal was 1:30 and I did a 1:31:18.

Getting out of the water I was really disoriented. I thought the glasses table would be moved closer to the swim exit, so I wasted some time looking for the eyeglass table. Then my Garmin was in my swim cap. I removed my cap and put my Garmin on my wrist and had my cap and goggles in my hand when I came to the wetsuit stripper. I forgot to unzip my wetsuit and pull it off my arms and torso. I point out two strippers and pop on the ground with my wetsuit still fully zipped, my Garmin on my wrist and cap and goggles in my hands. What an amateur.
Finally get out of the wetsuit and start jogging up to transition. Saw Mila right next to the chute at the top of the hill- this was great. Just did a steady jog to the changing tent. Took my time. Put on socks. Volunteer took care of my wetsuit and sprayed my neck and back with sunscreen.


Have a solid plan on exiting the water. Know where the eyeglass table is. Unzip the wetsuit and pull off of arms and torso before removing cap and goggles and putting Garmin on wrist.

Volunteer gave me my bike and I mounted and got on my way. Right out of transition is a down hill, a hairpin left turn and then a more aggressive downhill. I had to stop at the hairpin left turn because I didn't have my front break cable hooked up... What an amateur. That just took a couple seconds and then I got on my way. Was riding steady and trying to just spin and get my heart rate to where it should be. Tried not to let the riders who block the road by not riding on the right or by riding two or three abreast bother me.
The ride out on 73 is a steady incline that is a bit deceiving because it doesn't really seem like you are heading up, but you are. Just kept within myself here. Past the horse show grounds and the ski jumps and waiting for the Keene descent. It took longer than I thought it would to get to the Keene descent. This was fun just letting go and pushing to see how fast I could go. In Keene you make the left turn onto 9N toward Jay. Still keeping within myself here. I noticed my brake pad rubbing on my back wheel and had to swing my brake mechanism over a bit so it wasn't rubbing. Heading downhill in Jay I needed to pee. Still too many folks around. After the turnaround in Ausable Forks, heading uphill I peed while riding. OUCH! That burned like crazy. You will read time and time again about not doing anything different on race day. Heed this advice. I treated myself to new tri shorts from the IM Store. Same brand I was using, just the latest and greatest model. Well the padding in these shorts are a bit different and I guess I was dressed, er, pointing, er, hanging in the wrong direction and was chaffing really badly. What an amateur. I didn't realize this until I peed. This was just no fun. My pace was still OK at this point and the ride on 86 to Wilmington was fine and the ride back and up on Haselton road uneventful with the exception of every time I peed. Back on 86 is where things started to go bad. My effort seemed to be the same but my speed was decreasing. So I pushed the effort a bit to keep my pacing. By the time I got to left turn on 86 to head toward Whiteface Mountain I could really feel my back wheel rubbing on my back brakes. My rear wheel was warping and rubbing pretty badly. I adjusted the breaks a bit but was afraid to adjust them too light because of the downhill portions of the course. The Bears back to town were fun but I could not sustain the pace I was holding earlier at this point. The fans are awesome here. It really feels like you are in the Tour De France. Even I felt like a rock star here. Coming back to town raised my spirits a bit because of all the people. Stopped at special needs and put a big handful of lube on my crotch. Rode past transition and back out for the second loop. The Keene descent on the second loop I mostly coasted and didn't push too much. After the turn around in Ausable Forks things started to get ugly. My right glute was cramping up, my lower back was sore, my neck was in pain, my crotch was on fire. I was very emotional during some points here feeling really sorry for myself. I remember at one point just praying that my rear wheel would just explode so that I could DNF. Well, that never happened so I had to just keep going. The aerobars were long forgotten here as it was too difficult to ride in them. It became a race from one aide station to the next. At each aide station I would eat, hydrate, stretch and use the porta potty. It became too painful to pee on the bike as the burning was unbearable. On the climbs just before the waterfall area after Whiteface this guy that I met in a NYHRC on the stationary bike during the winter months passed me. I was sitting up with my left hand holding onto the aerobar armrest and punching my right ass-cheek with my right fist to try to get the cramp out of my glute. As he passed he asked if that works. I replied that it works for my donkey. He didn't recognize me but I did him. He's a dozen years older than me and about 50 lbs overweight and he was blowing past me on the bike... Humbling. The Bears heading back into town are not as fun 9 1/2 hours into the race. Most of the fans have moved on to cheer their family and friends on the run. Well what could I say at this point? I the bike didn't blow up and I hadn't quit. When I got off the bike and handed it to the volunteer I told him to shoot the steed because it had a broken leg. He didn't get it. Then again, I was so delirious at this point I may have just thought I said that.
Bike took me 8:09:43. My goal was 6:00:00

My last 3 or 4 long rides were very painful for me. Something was wrong. I should have known that I need to take it easier on race day because of this. What an amateur.
I found the damage on my rear tire 1 hour before transitioned closed the day before the race. I didn't bring my training wheels so that wasn't an option and I couldn't find any shops that had any aero wheels left to rent. Both bike shops said that the wheel should be fine. I was afraid it might malfunction on the Keene descent. They said it would be OK. It did warp more though during the race. I could have loosed the brakes up all the way and adjusted them back just for the Keene descent. What an amateur.
I should not have worn shorts I was not used to. What an amateur.

I took my time here. Lubed up my crotch more, put on sunscreen, hydrated and ate. Walking out of the changing tent I was sure that I was about to walk the entire marathon.

I came out of transition convinced that I would not be able to run. My body was in some pain for the last 5 hours and my right glute was cramping up. Took a few step out of the tent and thought "well, lets see if we can shuffle", so I swung my arms and shuffled my feet and sure enough I was moving! Ok, "lets see if I can jog." Wow! I can jog! The dark cloud over my head had a silver lining. The loneliness of the bike ride was replaced with cheers from the crowd and the street full of other runner (they were on their second loop, though). I was feeling great and running sub 10 min/miles. Saw Mila on rt 73 by our hotel. Gave her a kiss. Felt human. Took in nutrition at the aide stations. Loop one done and still feeling ok. Heading out from loop one it was a little quieter since many of the people I was running with on the first loop were on their second loop. Back out on rt 73 out of town. Passed Mila again but didn't feel as good the first time I saw her. At the aide station around mile 18 I came to the end of the aide station and saw the two people ahead of me continuing to walk. This is where the mind games started for me. I walked out of the aide station and told myself just 10 steps, but then that turned into me saying, "ok, just walk until the next telephone pole." So I walked the telephone pole and then started jogging again but I didn't even make it to the next aide station before I started walking again. Amateur! Don't give into these voices! Fight them! If you give in once it is easier to give in the next time. So this was how I continued. I walked and shuffled the rest of the marathon. Night fell and I started feeling pretty bad for myself. I started leap-frogging with a guy and girl. They'd shuffle past me and then walk. I would shuffle past them and then walk, and so on. At one point the guy (this ended up being Brett, aka mogulbumm) was trying to figure out their finish time. I was all big and said we can beat 15 hours, let's go. Well we continued the shuffle, walk, shuffle walk. They passed me and I gave up on 15 hours. I gave up on time. Back toward town on 73 I came up to Mila by our hotel. She had a long sleeve shirt for me to put on to keep warm. She was walking with me back to the finish. She shuffled when I shuffled, walked when I walked. Up the last hill and left turn just before Art Devlin's I couldn't even be motivated by the people on the loudspeaker who motivated nearly everyone to run up that darn hill. More shuffle and walk. Coming up to the oval where you make the right and head away from the finish, up and back along the lake I kissed Mila and jogged away nest to the lake to the turnaround and the rest of the way home. Back to the oval, the bright lights of the finish, the cheers of the crowd, the music and Mike Reilly. I didn't realize it, but I ended up nearly catching back up to Brett (mogulbumm)- he was 7 seconds ahead of me.
My goal was under 4:00:00, I did a 5:02:09.

I could have been, should have been, mentally tougher for the last 8 miles. My lack of mental toughness is what made me walk here, not my conditioning. Considering though that I planned on being on the bike for two hours less than I was, this run was OK I guess.

Got my silver cape, medal and pic. I was absolutely freezing. Got a post race massage that was awesome and it warmed me up. Once I went outside again I was pretty cold again. Walked the bike and everything back to the hotel with Mila.


A great learning experience.


We went out to a bar for a burger and beer afterward. TJ Tollakson came in and sat at a table right next to us by himself to grab some dinner. The next table invited him to eat with them and he moved his chair and sat with them. That is the kind of stuff that is so awesome about this sport.

If you are reading this report and thinking of doing this race you NEED to volunteer. You have no idea how helpful and motivating the volunteers are until you are on the course. They are awesome! You should pay it forward and volunteer.